India attended secret meeting to discuss Ukraine-Russia peace plan: Report
What's the story
India reportedly attended a secret conclave of more than 15 nations in Denmark to plan for an alleged peace conference in July. With the Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russia showing no signs of achieving a breakthrough, talks on the peace plan are viewed as the next best alternative. Reportedly, the meeting on Ukraine took place last Saturday in Copenhagen under "strict secrecy."
Context
Why does this story matter?
In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine over territorial disputes, and to stop it from being part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), from February 24, 2022, to June 18, 2023, there were 24,862 civilian casualties in Ukraine, with 9,083 killed and 15,779 injured.
Details
India didn't want meeting to remain confidential: Report
India, like Brazil, did not want the meeting to remain confidential, according to the German news agency ARD. Later, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) shared photos of its ambassador for the conference, senior diplomat Sanjay Verma, in Copenhagen, while other pro-government accounts tweeted a group photo taken after the meeting.
More details
Countries that took part in last week's Ukraine peace talks
Diplomats from Western nations, as well as representatives of China, Brazil, South Africa, and India, were also reportedly present in last week's peace plan talks in Copenhagen. Furthermore, the report claimed that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva confirmed that his adviser was in Denmark to take part in the peace meeting.
Twitter Post
Group picture taken after peace plan meeting
German media reports that Denmark has hosted peace talks on Ukraine involving Western countries & India, China, South Africa, Brazil. India is represented by MEA Secretary West Sanjay Verma.
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) June 27, 2023
Pic source: DW pic.twitter.com/7cWYRrE56u
Know more
Know what EU representative revealed earlier on meeting
On June 23, an European Union (EU) representative revealed that Ukraine had initiated a meeting between representatives of Western nations and their counterparts from Global South countries. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, EU representatives, "envoys from South Africa, Brazil, and India," as well as "a major Ukrainian official," were expected to attend the meeting.
Further information
Kremlin detained over 800 civilians since war began
Separately, Reuters reported on Tuesday that a United Nations (UN) monitoring team in war-struck Ukraine found that the Kremlin had detained more than 800 civilians since the war began over a year ago. The UN mission's report also revealed that Ukraine violated international law by unjustly arresting civilians; however, those numbers are significantly lower than those of Russia.